2nd National People's Congress

The 2nd National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1959 to 1964. It held four sessions in this period.

Background
Since the succeeding Congress was to be the first to be elected under the 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in February 1959, finished all the preparatory work for selection of deputies, which were voted by representatives of the provincial legislatures and the city legislatures of the then two Direct-administered municipalities of China: Beijing and Shanghai. The elections were held in accordance with the 1953 Electoral Law.

The first session
The first session was held in 18-28 April 1959. During the first session, Mao Zedong relinquished his role as chairman of the People's Republic to Liu Shaoqi. The Congress elected the state leaders:


 * Chairman of the People's Republic of China: Liu Shaoqi
 * Vice Chairmen of the People's Republic of China: Soong Ching-ling and Dong Biwu
 * Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress: Zhu De
 * Premier of the State Council: Zhou Enlai
 * President of the Supreme People's Court: Xie Juezai
 * Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate: Zhang Dingcheng